Inserts
Insertos
1975 · United States, United Kingdom · 117 min
- Director
- John Byrum
- Screenplay
- John Byrum
- Cinematography
- Denys Coop
- Editing
- Michael Bradsell
What the critics say
69 % Rotten Tomatoes positive reviewsCast
What it is about
A young Hollywood director known as Boy Wonder has fallen out of favour with the studios as sound arrives. Unwilling to soften his experimental style, and weighed down by drinking and a fear of leaving home, he earns his living making stag films in a decaying mansion. A day of shooting brings together a former silent star, an actor and a shady producer, and things start to go badly wrong.
How it was made
John Byrum wrote the script in 1972 as a reflection on how hard he found it to write for the porn genre. After the sale of Harry and Walter Go to New York, he was suddenly in demand and raised money from United Artists, two producers and Richard Dreyfuss, fresh from Jaws. The film was shot in London over three weeks on a budget of about $350,000, on a single set and in real time, with a deliberately stage-like approach.
Reception and legacy
In the United States the film was initially given an X rating, and Dreyfuss personally appealed the decision without success. It was a box office disappointment. Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 stars out of 4, criticising its stilted dialogue while praising the performances of Dreyfuss and Cartwright. In 1996 the MPAA re-rated it NC-17.
Stills
Trailer
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Trivia
A title with a double meaning
In film terms an insert is a shot cut into a scene, but the title also refers to sexual penetration.
Dreyfuss's fee
Dreyfuss received $150,000 of a budget of roughly $350,000, nearly half the total cost.
Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.